Wizards of Oz

"Life is fraughtless ... when you're thoughtless."

31.1.09

[Moblog] Garden of the Gods

Just finished one of the toughest 30-minute runs I've ever done - around the northern part of Garden of the Gods via Palmer Trail and Scotsman. And to think I harbored designs of doing the full 10k loop today.... (memo to self: wait 'til you're acclimatized to the 6,500' elevation first!)

29.1.09

... In the Age of Obama

The first three of Nimble Books' series ... In the Age of Obama are now available on Amazon. As mentioned in my post last week, my 20 co-authors are a real "Who's Who" of national security bloggers. Check it out -- it's a heck of a lot cheaper than hiring any of us as consultants!

27.1.09

[Moblog] Winter Wonderland

I guess the roads in CO aren't as dry as I had expected.... At least the have the good sense to spread a little CaCl here to melt the ice (unlike the schmucks in OKC who only put down sand - resulting in roads more appropriate for ice hockey than driving).

Outside temp now reads 6° F. (-15° C.). Walsenburg Police have shut down I-25 northbound at Mile 49, so I'm being detoured through town along the "business route". So much for best laid plans....

26.1.09

[Moblog] OK!

One of the few states my kids have yet to visit is Oklahoma. I was first here 20 years ago, when a friend from college was at Fort Sill for Artillery School.

It's ironic that 'Blizzard' and 'Leo' (the Webkinz in the photo) should visit OK before the kids.....

If all goes according to plan, Eldest should log her 45th, 46th & 47th states before Easter - and Man-Cub his 43rd, 44th & 45th. Still to see? ND, ME, and NH for Eldest, plus ID & HI for Man-Cub. (Baby M&M has some catchin' up to do!)

24.1.09

Clausewitz Roundtable

The gang at ChicagoBoyz is hosting a roundtable blog series on the inestimable Carl von Clausewitz and his magnum opus, "On War". Last week we offered commentary on Book I: On the Nature of War; today concludes Book II: On the Theory of War. For the next seven weeks we'll review one book per week (there are eight books in all, plus we'll spend the final ninth week in review).

The full list of posts can be found here; my Book I post is here and my Book II post here. And kudos go to Lord Curzon at ComingAnarchy whose skills with PhotoShop have helped bring Carl von to the modern age (h/t to LexingtonGreen at ChicagoBoyz for the inspiration, and to LTC(ret) John Nagl for providing the torso and hands of our modern-day theorist shown above).

UPDATE: Roundtable host Lexington Green has Obamified the good General:

23.1.09

Threats in the Age of Obama

Blogfriend Michael Tanji's edited work Threats in the Age of Obama has been sent to the printer earlier this week. In addition to Tanji (a former intelligence officer with two decades in various tactical and strategic level assignments), the contributors are a "Who's Who" of international security bloggers:

19.1.09

[Moblog] Keystone

17.1.09

[Moblog] Carvers

Tony's "Carving" friends all ride alpine racing snowbaords (Coiler, Prior & F2s) - longer effective edge with narrow width and flat tails. These guys -- average age around 40 -- are amazingly graceful as well as *fast*. Watching them carve their edge in the snow is inspiring, leaving S-shaped trenches in their wake.

3.1.09

Test - this is only a test

2.1.09

PAC-10 Wins Bowl Challenge Cup

With USC's drubbing of a rather lackadaisical Penn State in the Rose Bowl yesterday, the PAC-10 completed a perfect 5-for-5 sweep of its Bowl Games -- and claimed its first-ever "Bowl Challenge Cup" (an ESPN-invented acknowledgment of the NCAA Division I conference with the highest winning percentage [minimum three bowl games]).

However, I think the best gauge of a conference's strength is the number of teams that qualify for bowl games -- rather than just the winning percentage. After all, my beloved Golden Bears of Cal played a hapless Miami team comprised almost entirely of underclassmen and sporting an SI "Power Ranking" of 47th out of 119. The SEC, by contrast, has EIGHT (yep, 8) of their 12 teams playing in the college post-season; even Vanderbilt won their first bowl game in more than 50 years. And the Big-12, in addition to sending seven to the postseason, came within a play of putting the Broken Computer System into a tailspin with two teams warranting a BCS Title Game berth.

BTW: 50 years is significant for Cal too, since yesterday (New Years Day) was the 50th anniversary of Cal's most-recent trip to the Granddaddy of Them All, the Rose Bowl. Jan. 1st, 1959, PAC-10 champion Cal lost to a bigger, faster, stronger Iowa team, beginning a drought reminiscent of baseball's Chicago Cubs. Hopefully Cal won't have to wait another 50 years before returning to the Rose Bowl....